Races of Eden: The Athirua

The Athirua set the standard for physical perfection that all of Adel aspires to, their beauty said to transcend even that of the Spirits. Throughout the history of Eden the scattered Athirua were whispered of as artifacts of some greater, perfect order long since gone, too fine and fragile to have been part of this world or the one before it. In reality the Athirua are numerous and a wondrous accident of some unseen natural evolution, perhaps from elves, perhaps not. Their objectified beauty is both their most readily accessible resource in life, and also their unending curse.

Physiology

Athirua are extremely beautiful. Their beauty is said to be universal, where even the males of their culture appear as and can be easily (and often are) mistaken for the women, and both men and women of any race are said be able to fall for an Athirua regardless of gender. Their bodies are the peak of feminine humanoid form, all svelte curves, smooth skin, long hair and fine-featured faces. Even as children they quickly grow to have well-proportioned heads, torsos and limbs, unlike other races’ children, as though their first few years are the puberty that makes them into small adults.

Athirua are readily distinguished from anyone else by their signature indigo-colored skin. In rare cases, Athirua with entirely black skin or albino Athirua can be found that are almost worshiped for their distinctive beauty. Athirua rarely, if ever, have any noticeable facial or body hair. Most Athirua have colorful eyes, blue, green or orange. Albino and Black Athirua have captivating red eyes. Their hair color tends towards lighter blond or red, and naturally grows long and somewhat wavy, though it is cut or styled in whatever fashion the Athirua feels like.

Male Athirua are only marginally less effeminate than female Athirua. They lack secondary sexual characteristics, but when wearing covering clothing this doesn’t make as much of a difference. They could just as easily be flat-chested females. Male Athirua who want to expose as much of their masculinity as will be decent tend to bare their chests because of this. Athirua men have an almost impossible time of building muscle and are naturally unfit to be big or tough, though both they and female Athirua can look rather lean and athletic. It is not impossible for Athirua to be over or underweight, but their own ideology towards their bodies prevents them from falling to unhealthy extremes.

An Athirua coupling with a Iomadi or Human is just as likely to produce Athirua as to produce the partner race. The child, however, if not Athirua, will likely grow to be more effeminate than normal even if Male. This is not seen with other races, who drastically lower the chance of producing an Athirua child. Athirua females are more commonplace than Males, and most of the attitudes spoken of here refer to them. Athirua males occupy an odd place in Adel, ideologically, physically and culturally.

History

The Athirua were a race of nomadic wanderers. The first widespread account of them dates to the early Aptoas Empire, around Sargasso and Periterim. It is believed that they were natives of the islands around Adel, which accounts for their love of tropical and hot climates and the discomfort they tend to feel in colder climates. They might have moved to Adel after developing seaworthiness as a matter of curiosity. Athirua themselves tend to believe this answer, as many do trace origins back to the islands around Periterim and Sargasso. Of note, Athirua don’t natively exist in Selvage, which is seen as evidence that they did not grow and expand on the main continent.

On Adel, the Athirua traveled throughout the whole island in family groups. They quickly drew the attention of the imperial citizens. Their song and dance and their distinctive, revealing dress served to accentuate their natural beauty and exoticism. Many quickly came to wealth as they became “honored guests” of imperial officials and other people of wealth. They easily took advantage of this, turning their own racial culture more romantic and sensuous to please the Adelian eye and ear. As Athirua began to integrate through procreation and adoption into cultures and families wealthy and not within Adel they began to take other roles. By the time of the Intolerable War, the nomadic troupes were less common. Instead Athirua were part of the daily life, a race like any other, though indeed still lusted for and admired.

Of course, many Athirua still traveled and spread their dance and style, but now in mixed-race groupings.

Way Of Life

Athirua are not rare in Adel. If Iomadi have the overwhelming majority of the population, Athirua are firmly second-place, along with races like the Damakran and Cuporo. Oddly enough, Athirua males tend to couple more often with males and females of other races, likewise with Athirua females. The tale of an Athirua boy wanting to take a bride of his own race is actually a tragic folk romance story of Adel, not one commonly believed to be simple or successful.

Mythologically, Athirua believed that the capricious God/Goddess Orvial made them out of clay. He/She peppered the lands with statues in His/Her own effeminate image. To punish Him/Her for such vanity, and in an act of jealous indignation for Orvial’s great beauty, the goddess Inunkuru gave life and individuality to all of His/Her statues, so they might walk away and be renowned for their own beauty and not Orvial’s. To this day, the Athirua value individuality above all else. A new style of dress or hair, new accessories, or better still, rare physical features like albinism, are all highly praised among them. Body art and tattoos are common among them. Athirua also value new forms of expression. Anything that can make them differ.

Athirua have no real nudity taboo. It is said in primitive times they went around bare-chested or even fully in the nude. In modern-day Adel, being nude in public is unacceptable, but in private or with close company, Athirua tend to bare at least their upper bodies. Athirua have pioneered styles of clothing that diverge from the typical robes worn by most villagers. Their dress tends to be rather revealing and best suited to the hotter climates that Athirua hail from. Halter-neck designs are common to them, as well as dresses with openings between the breasts, backless designs, side-slitted skirts and so on.

Widespread even in the rural lands, Athirua are desirable spouses for the wealthy still, but many also have common lives. They are as much a fixture of villages and small towns as they are of bustling cities and lavish villas. They are just as commonly farmers and foragers as they are socialites and celebrities. They have a natural gift for the arts and a flair for the dramatic, and many sing or dance. Athirua art, song and dance tend to emphasize romance, sensuality and physical closeness, with heated partner dance being their triumphant domain. Athirua believe firmly in keeping their bodies healthy and in good shape, so they take up a sport or an art as a way to better themselves. It is not uncommon for them to become clergy – they admire the self-discipline of monks. They don’t take too well to the study of the arcane, however.

At the same time, Athirua can be cursed by their beauty. After seeing the wider world outside their primordial island birthplaces, the Athirua find other members of their race to be like mirrors they dare not look into, and try to be distinct from each other. Two Athirua can find great friendship and platonic love in their individual search for distinct identities, but it is very hard to them to find romantic love. Athirua males do naturally love Athirua females, but the reverse is becoming ever more difficult to find. The majority of their race is female, and the male minority is oft romantically shunned by them.

Athirua rarely become thieves or assassins. They stand out too much and are loathe not to stand out. Though a few do enjoy the thrill of it. However, that’s not to say many of them are not active in the underworld in other ways as well. They just perform different activities. Athirua are unparalleled at getting what they want with as little of their own work as possible. Subtle crimes are the chief domain of the Athirua criminal. It should not come as a surprise that Athirua are also experts at seduction and romantic intrigue.

Social Standing

Athirua have come a long way from being the objects of the loathsome affection of lustful, wealthy imperials. Populations of Athirua that grow in more rural or insular communities tend to be treated the same as anyone else, albeit they rank very high on the village boy’s lists of “prettiest people in town.”

In larger or more developed or connected areas, they may tend to become the focus of a more romantic culture that craves their exotic looks and the sensuous and fiery demeanor ascribed to them in myth, but only if they are particularly distinctive. Athirua are more common now, and though still admired, it takes a lot of effort, talent and luck for ones to truly stand out among others of their kind. It is almost a competition among all of them to be different.

That being said, a lot of them still exacerbate the stereotypes of their kind, being toys and trophies, relishing in attention and taking advantage of their looks for as many romantic misadventures as they can have. All of which tends to upset those among them who don’t want to be associated with such things and who want them left behind.

Athirua have brought a lot of things to Adel in terms of culture. Their dance and dress are popular in the tropics and the south of Adel, and they have certainly left their mark in the mythology of Adel.

Athirua and Rhonnu tend to not get along. Rhonnu despise Athirua as flippant whores who too easily come to wealth and power without the brains to use those resources, but don’t openly mistreat them because it would be easily noticed. Athirua meanwhile find Rhonnu’s airs of superiority to be extremely distasteful. There is also somewhat of an unspoken contest between the two races on physical appearance and distinctiveness. Athirua are off-put by Dromidae’s physical looks when it comes to finding romantic partners, and Dromidae don’t really care about Athirua one way or another.

Athirua In Play

Athirua are physically very beautiful, but this can be a mask and a curse. In play, Athirua’s beauty could hide a tormented or monstrous soul laden with scars and cracks. As well, Athirua can choose to go against all their racial stereotypes, perhaps trying to be ugly, or trying not to stand out. Their fame follows them. In 1175 A.C. Adel it may not follow them as overtly as it did in the early imperial age – they are not treated widely as trophies and pretty objects – but the spectre of their objectification is still there. Whether they hide from the spectre, fight it, ignore it, leverage it and lie to it, or fall prey to it is a good part of the narrative to focus on, to have a character with depth and not merely beauty. The tragedy or awkwardness of an Athirua male can also make for a good character story. At the same time one can ignore all this, after all, Athirua lead far more “normal” lives nowadays than before, and focus on making an athletic, fiery character whose love of life comes out in everything he or she does.